weatherford



Feb. 21, 1956 WEATHERFORD BOBBIN WINDER Filed Dec. 15, 1952 INVENTOR H.WEATHERFORD ATTORNEY United States Patent O BOBBIN WINDER Harry H.Weatherford, Smithville, Tenn.

Application December 15, 1952, Serial No. 325,969

4 Claims. (Cl. 242-22) This application relates to the manufacture oftextiles and to the machinery by which such textiles are produced. Theinvention is directed particularly to power operated machines capable ofproducing lock stitches and which machines also employ bobbins.

The invention is directed specifically to bobbin winders, which arepowered either from the belt which drives the machine or from the flywheel of the machine and which winders include mechanism forautomatically releasing the bobbins as soon as they become filled.

Bobbin winders of this same general character are old in the art.However, they have had certain weaknesses including the spring whichmaintains the guide in a position at least to contact the thread as itis wound upon the bobbin. Prior devices have not had a stop for limitingthe movement of the guide for the thread and consequently excessivemovement caused excessive stress upon the spring and frequently resultedin breakage of the same.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the difficulties enumeratedand to provide a bobbin Winder of improved construction by means ofwhich a bobbin may be wound until it is full and the winding thenautomatically terminated and without frequent breakdowns interferingwith the expeditious winding of the bobbin.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which isrelatively simple, consists of few parts which can be readily produced,assembled and will satisfactorily and efficiently perform the functionfor which created.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with the attacheddrawings wherein:

Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective illustrating one application of theinvention;

Fig. 2, a vertical section through the bearing and releasing mechanism;

Fig. 3, a similar view with the parts in a different position; and

Fig. 4, a fragmentary end elevational view with the parts in a stillfurther position.

Briefly stated the bobbin winder comprises a frame adapted to beattached to the bed of a sewing machine, such frame including apivotally mounted yoke in which is journalled a shaft having a pulley onone end which comes in contact with and is driven by the belt of themachine when the yoke is in the proper position. On the opposite end ofthe shaft is adapted to be received the bobbin which is to be filled.The end of the shaft is split so that the bobbin will be frictionallyheld in engagement with the shaft when it is applied thereupon. A yokeis spring biased in order normally to maintain the pulley out of contactwith the belt of the machine by means of which the pulley is driven.

A combination guide and operating member is pivotally mounted so that itmay swing into the space between the ends of the bobbin and subsequentlybe engaged by the thread as it is wound upon the bobbin and the latterbecomes filled. The guide is biased toward the shaft on 2,735,628Patented Feb. 21, 1956 which the bobbin is carried by means of a helicalspring along the center of which is disposed a pin. The pin limits thepivotal movement of the guide and the spring urges the guide toward theshaft on which it is mounted. On the body of the guide is disposed acurved detent which engages a boss on the yoke; by this mechanism thepulley is held in engagement with the driving belt until such time asthe thread on the bobbin moves the guide away from the shaft on whichthe yoke is mounted until the bobbin is filled whereupon the detent onthe guide will be withdrawn from beneath the boss on the yoke and thelatter with the pulley will be swung by the action of the spring bywhich it is biased to a position out of engagement with the drivingbelt.

With continued reference to the drawings a conventional lock stitch typesewing machine has a bed plate 10, to which the bobbin winder of thepresent invention is adapted to be attached. The sewing machine includesan upstanding arm 11 and a power belt 12 by means of which the machineis operated. v

The bobbin winder comprises a base 13 which may be attached to the bed10 of the conventional lock stitch machine by means of screws or otherfasteners 14. On the base 13 are a pair of uprights 15 and 16 to theupper end of the latter of which is connected by a stud 17 the pivotalbearing portion 18 of a yoke 19 having bearing arms 20 and 21in which isjournalled a shaft 22. On one end of the shaft is fixed a pulley 23which is adapted to be moved into contact with and to be driven by thepower belt 12 which drives the machine. On the opposite end of the shaft22 is mounted a spacing collar 24 against which a bobbin 25 is adaptedto abut, a pin 26 being employed to enter a notch in the bobbin toinsure the rotation of the bobbin on the shaft. The shaft is providedwith a slot 27 so that the bobbin may be frictionally held thereupon.

A spring 28 is mounted about the stud 17 and is under tension so thatthe yoke 19 will be biased in one position and in which position thepulley 23 will be out of engagement with the belt 12 so that the bobbinon the end of the shaft opposite that on which the pulley is carriedwill not continue to have thread wound thereon.

On the upper end of the arm 15 is mounted a pivot pin 29 about which isdisposed a bearing 30 on which is supported a combination guide andoperating member 31 for maintaining the bobbin in proper position andserving also asa portion of the mechanism on releasing the bobbin ordiscontinuing or winding of the sameafter it has become filled. g

In order to maintain the guide in engagement with the bobbin so thatthread will be wound thereon, a helical spring 32 is confined betweenthe base 13 and the body of the guide member 31. Along the center ofthis spring is disposed a pin 33 having a head 34 disposed in a recess35 on the underside of the base 13, the point or tip end portion of thepin extending through the aperture 36 in the body of the guide member31. This limits the amount of rotation of the guide member.

The guide member 31 has a curved detent 37 which is adapted to engage aboss 38 on an extension of the arm 20 of the yoke 19. After the bobbinwinder is filled the thread will engage the guide 31 and move the detent37 beneath the boss 38. to allow the spring 28 to move the pulley 23forwardly of the machine out of contact with the driving belt 12 to stopthe winding of the pulley.

In order to stop rotation of the pulley 23 and the bobbin 25 a frictionmember 39 is mounted by fasteners 40 to a raised portion 41 of the base13. -Thus in one position the pulley 23 will be in contact with thefriction member 39 and will not be rotated but when moved by theoscillation of the yoke this pulley will be brought into anotherposition in contact with the driving belt 12 and over the split end ofsaid shaft. The guide is then released so that it will 'move toward theshaft whereupon. the shaft with the belt engaging pulley 23 and thebobbin will be oscillated to bring the pulley into contact with the belt12; The curved detent 37 is then brought beneath the end of the boss 38where it will remain until sufiicient thread has been wound upon thebobbin to engage and move the guide 31' away from the shaft 22 therebyreleasing the detent 37 from the boss 38 and allowing the shaft to swingthe pulley 23 out of contact with the belt 12 and into contact with thefriction or brake member 39 stopping the rotation of the pulley and.

vented from rotating or swinging except through a limited arc. vented.

Thus excessive tension on the spring is pre- In other words by thepresent invention the spring is prevented from being subjected to unduestress by the pin 33' engaging the pivotal portion of the finger 31 asshown in Fig. 4 which serves as a stop limiting the downward movement ofthe finger of the operator. The structure of this character instead ofthe old independent spring attached by'a bolt or a screw results in adefinite improvement in the life and operation of the device.

It will beobvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and'therefore the invention is not limited bythat which is shownin the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicatedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bobbin winder having a rotatably mounted shaft adapted toreceive a bobbin thereon, a guide mounted on a, hub and having a portionadapted to be located between the ends of the bobbin and to be contacted by thread on the bobbin, said guide having an aperture, a pinfixed to said frame and extending into said aperture, said pin beingmounted to engage said. hub upon the bobbin becoming filled, a springassociated with said pin for biasing said guide toward said shaft, adetent on said guide, and a projection associated with said shaftadapted to be engaged by said detent when the parts are in one position,and said guide being adapted to be moved when sufficient thread is woundto withdraw said detent'from beneath said projection.

2. In a bobbin winder a shaft adapted to support a bobbin to" be' wound,afirst support" rotatably mounting said shaft, a second supportpivotally mounting the first, a fixed pivot located beside said shaft, amember mounted on said fixed pivot and having a portion located in aposition to be contacted by a predetermined accumulation of thread onsaid bobbin, spring means biasing said member towards said shaft, anelongated body limiting the swinging movement of said member toward saidshaft, means biasing said shaft toward such fixed pivot and said membertoward said shaft, and means for limiting the swinging movement of saidmember away from said shaft.

3. In a bobbin winder shaft adapted to support a bobbin to be wound, afirst support rotatably mounting said shaft, a second support pivotallymounting the first, a fixed pivot located beside said shaft, a membermounted on said fixed pivot and having a portion located in a positionto be contacted by a predetermined accumulation of thread on saidbobbin, spring means biasing said member toward said shaft, and a pinlimiting the swinging movement of said member toward said shaft, meansbiasing said shaft toward such fixed pivot and said member toward saidshaft, and means for limiting the swinging movement of said' member awayfrom said shaft comprising a movable pin engageable by said member andwhen so engaged movable into contact with said fixed pivot.

4. In a bobbin winder a shaft adapted to support a bobbin tobe wound, afirst support rotatably mounting said shaft, a second support pivotallymounting the first, a fixed pivot located beside said shaft, a membermounted on said fixed pivotand having a portion located in a posi-References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS188,943 Powers Mar. 27, 1877 335,019 Connolly Jan. 26, 1886 1,176,434Corning Mar. 21, 1916 1,308,529 Peterson July 1, 1919 1,387,141 FlanaganAug. 9, 1921 2,430,932 Hohmann Nov. 18, 1947

